If The Day is Done
by
Rabindra Nath Tagore
(Text & Summary)
This is the 24th poem of
‘Gitanjali’. In this poem, Tagore longs for God's command for death. He is
prepared to die whenever God wills him to. He says, that Death is not
permanent, it is only a renewal of the body and its outer garments. Death means
that the physical body shall be renewed while the soul, the spirit shall be the
same as before. The poet welcomes Death and prays for it, for it means rebirth
and renewal of one's powers.
If The Day is Done
If
the day is done, if birds sing no more, if the wind has flagged tired, then
draw the veil of darkness thick upon me, even as thou hast wrapt the earth with
the coverlet of sleep and tenderly closed the petals of the drooping lotus at
dusk.
From
the traveler, whose sack of provisions is empty before the voyage is ended, whose
garment is torn and dust-laden, whose strength is exhausted, remove shame and poverty,
and renew his life like a flower under the cover of thy kindly night.
In this
lyric, Tagore talks about death and how it implies a new life, a new beginning
instead of an end. In the poem, the poet pleads God for death. He says, since
the day has ended and all his worldly chores finished and completed, since the
birds have stopped singing and even the wind has slowed down, please draw the
veil of darkness. The poet asks God to put an end to his life like He has put
the earth to sleep by covering it up in a coverlet of sleep and like He
tenderly, softly covers up the petals of a blooming lotus when night comes.
The
poet then compares himself to a traveler, whose bag of provisions has become
empty, whose clothes are torn and dusty and who is tired and exhausted and prays
God to give him the gift of death and thus save him from shame and poverty and
bring fresh life as to a flower who blooms again the next day having been
blessed with life the previous night.
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